ANTI-WAR protesters in Britain will change tactics today as American military bases vital to the war on Iraq are targeted by direct-action groups.

Scotland Yard expects a peaceful mass demonstration by 100,000 marchers at Hyde Park in London after exten- sive negotiations with the organisers.

Anarchist and militant groups are concentrating instead on launching a two-pronged attack on the US military presence in Britain. The spy base at Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire is being branded by campaigners as the “brains” of the American war effort and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire the “body”.

Ministry of Defence police, who patrol inside the perimeter fence of both camps, have increased security. Gloucestershire police are mounting the biggest operation in their history, aimed at protecting RAF Fairford, where 36 anti-war protesters have already been arrested this year.

Eight B52 bombers took off from Fairford yesterday to join the waves of attacks on Iraq, increasing tension before today’s demonstration. The Home Office has given special powers to police in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire that will allow them to stop and search any people and vehicles under the Terrorism Act.

The anarchist website Disobedience claims that it has been holding workshops on “group self-defence” in London in preparation for taking coachloads of demonstrators to Fairford. Protesters at the base appear to be split between the legal Fairford Peace Camp and G10 Bomber Watch and the militant direct-action groups who engage in “non-violent” lawbreaking.

Greenpeace yesterday flew a hot-air balloon just 100ft over the base, dropping leaflets showing Donald Rumsfeld meeting Saddam Hussein. There have been repeated attempts to breach the perimeter fence.

Arthur Milling, a former magistrate and Sheriff of York, was granted bail yesterday by Gloucester Crown Court after allegedly spending two hours inside RAF Fairford causing criminal damage. His alleged accomplice, Margaret Jones, was also released but both were banned from going within two miles of the camp.

It is claimed that they targeted 30 vehicles including aircraft fuelling tankers and low loaders used to take bombs to the planes. The pair allegedly caused £50,000 damage by cutting fuel lines, brake pipes and electric cables, slashing tyres and breaking instrument panels. Mr Milling said: “Unlike the criminals in Whitehall and the White House, we are not guilty.”

Dave Cockroft, an organiser of today’s Fairford protest, said: “There are one or two obvious flashpoints where the police will be preventing the protesters from getting where they want to.”

North Yorkshire Police will have officers ready for rapid deployment at Menwith Hill, an American signals intelligence centre, where protesters will gather today.

Demonstrators on the Foil the Base day are being urged to take enough balloons, kites and puppets — all made of foil — to disrupt satellite signals.

Police in Manchester arrested 16 people who tried to block a main road during rush hour yesterday.

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